Lectures, Letters and Bible Lessons gives the reader a unique look into the historical Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, California. This revival catapulted Pentecostalism into a world-wide community of faith. Volume Six of the Complete Azusa Street Library, this book contains correspondence from the mission at 312 Azusa Street to followers around the world. Letters by William J. Seymour and others in leadership are included. Some of the letters have never been published. There are also many expositions of the doctrines of the mission. Many of these are written by Seymour and were published in the Apostolic Faith newspaper. You will see what the faithful believed and taught at the beginning of the Pentecostal movement.
William Seymour (1870 - 1922)
Was an American Methodist born in Indiana who joined the Salvation Army in the 1890s. From his base on Azusa Street he began to preach his doctrinal beliefs. Seymour not only rejected the existing racial barriers in favor of "unity in Christ", he also rejected the then almost-universal barriers to women in any form of church leadership. This revival meeting extended from 1906 until 1909, and became known as the Azusa Street Revival. It became the subject of intense investigation by more mainstream Protestants. Some left feeling that Seymour's views were heresy, while others accepted his teachings and returned to their own congregations to expound them. The resulting movement became widely known as "Pentecostalism", likening it to the manifestations of the Holy Spirit recorded as occurring in the first two chapters of Acts as occurring from the day of the Feast of Pentecost onwards. It is believed, Charles Harrison Mason, founder of the Church of God in Christ, received the Holy Spirit at the revival.While there had been similar religious movements in the past (the Cane Ridge, Kentucky, religious movement a century before in the Second Great Awakening being one such example), the current worldwide Pentecostal and charismatic movements are generally agreed to have been in part outgrowths of Seymour's ministry and the Azusa Street Revival.
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